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Tag:Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)

September 5, 2021
News & Commentary

Kevin Vazquez

This weekend, an estimated 8.9 million workers and their families will lose federal unemployment benefits entirely, and more than 2 million more will have their weekly checks reduced by $300 per week, as two key federal unemployment programs expire. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provided unemployment benefits to many workers not included under traditional unemployment […]

August 20, 2021
News & Commentary

Hannah Finnie

News has come out that Current Affairs, a socialist magazine, fired all but one of its employees after it became clear the workers were moving towards transitioning the structure of the magazine to a worker co-op. The magazine, according to three of the fired workers, was in need of a more egalitarian and progressive structure, […]

May 13, 2021
News & Commentary

Maxwell Ulin

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), announced that members had voted to advance three nominees for labor-policy posts in the Biden Administration. The Committee voted 14-8 in favor of the nomination of Jocelyn Samuels for Democratic Commissioner at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and by the same margin […]

April 15, 2021
News & Commentary

Maxwell Ulin

On Wednesday, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) unveiled a draft proposal for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s unemployment insurance (UI) program. Among other things, the proposed bill would require states to offer a minimum 26 weeks of unemployment benefits equal to at least 75% of an employee’s former weekly wages, […]

What should the pandemic teach us about the future of unemployment insurance?

Apr 12, 2021 Zachary Sorenson

One year ago, weeks into Covid-induced lockdowns and with the trajectory of the pandemic unknown, Congress passed the CARES Act, a $2.2 trillion relief package providing aid to businesses, local governments, and individuals. For workers who lost jobs in the unprecedented unemployment crisis triggered by the pandemic, the most impactful piece of this legislation was […]

February 26, 2021
News & Commentary

Rund Khayyat

Many American workers faced a Hobson’s choice during the pandemic: either return to unsafe workplaces, or refuse to work and lose wages and unemployment insurance (UI) eligibility. To address the dilemma, the Department of Labor directed states on Thursday to begin providing unemployment benefits to workers who refuse to return to work, or to accept […]

December 10, 2020
News & Commentary

Maxwell Ulin

As tens of millions of Americans await congressional action on coronavirus relief, talks among lawmakers have hit another snag. Sticking points remain over the extent of federal aid for state and local governments and the nature of lawmakers’ proposed business liability shield. Conflict between the White House and Senate Republicans over whether to prioritize stimulus […]

November 22, 2020
News & Commentary

Deanna Krokos

ProPublica released a groundbreaking investigation tracing a new chapter of COVID-19-realted “enhanced unemployment” benefits: clawbacks. Several states are pursuing repayment of benefits disbursed under the federal “Pandemic Unemployment Assistance” (“PUA”) program, that aimed to provide unemployment funds to workers traditionally ineligible for state unemployment insurance. Now, states are auditing their program distribution and determining that […]

November 12, 2020
News & Commentary

Maxwell Ulin

Unemployment claims dropped but held steady overall this past week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning. Around 709,000 Americans filed first-time claims within the past seven days, on top of roughly 300,000 additional claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The number of first-time claims marks a new low since March, but unemployment […]

October 30, 2020
News & Commentary

Alexandra Butler

According to the Department of Labor, last week, an additional 732,000 people sought unemployment assistance for the first time. While this marks a decrease in new weekly claims, this number only tells part of the story. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, which provides relief to gig workers, saw new claims increase by 15,000. Moreover, increased participation in the […]

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OnLabor

Law. Workers. Organizing.

OnLabor is a blog devoted to workers, unions, and their politics. We interpret our subject broadly to include the current crisis in the traditional union movement (why union decline is happening and what it means for our society); the new and contested forms of worker organization that are filling the labor union gap; how work ought to be structured and managed; how workers ought to be represented and compensated; and the appropriate role of government — all three branches — in each of these issues.

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September 5, 2021

August 20, 2021

May 13, 2021

April 15, 2021

What should the pandemic teach us about the future of unemployment insurance?

February 26, 2021

December 10, 2020

November 22, 2020

November 12, 2020

October 30, 2020